Who is Ready for Thanksgiving?

by Dana Marton

So, last week, Better Homes & Gardens sent me an email with the subject line: Plan Your Thanksgiving Menu Today. This proves that no matter how much advertisers spy on me online, they still don’t know me at all. I’m not one to plan meals two weeks in advance. I’m lucky if I remember to buy at the grocery store what I need for cooking that night.

In fact, I’m just not a good planner in general. I have friends who plan. I envy them. They are the ones who are not still changing around the ending of their books five minutes before the manuscript is due to the editor.

I’m not saying I don’t plan my books, I do. But most often, my characters tend to completely disregard my plans. (I have similar problems with my husband. Also with the dog. Let’s not talk about the 16 yr old in the house.) Hey, maybe I’m orderly, and I’m just surrounded by very disorderly people!

I recently wrote a heroine with that very problem.

The marine stood ramrod straight as he spoke, shoes at top shine, uniform in impeccable order, his hair regulation cut. He was as exact as if he’d been drawn by a mechanical engineer, with the help of a caliper and a bow compass.

Clara fully approved. She liked order and orderly people. He was the exact type of man she would be attracted to if she had time to be attracted to a man. He looked clean-cut and dependable.

Someday…

She stifled a sigh. She had a lot of other things to take care of before she could focus on her personal life. Romance was not on her twelve-month schedule.

Not that she had her entire life mapped out in a spreadsheet. But she did have one-year, five-year, and ten-year plans, both for her private life and her career. She liked knowing where she was going and when and how she was going to get there. The very idea of people meandering through life gave her the heebie-jeebies. *

It would be nice if she ended up with the very orderly Marine, wouldn’t it? No such luck. Of course, she falls for the utterly disorderly ex-Navy SEAL turned mercenary.

Well, supposedly, the Universe gives us experiences to make us better people.

Maybe the Better Homes & Gardens email was a nudge for me from the Universe, kind of like: Get your Thanksgiving act together!

It could happen. Although, I wouldn’t hold my breath. I have a serious medical condition called Author Brain. Which means, instead of planning my Thanksgiving dinner two weeks in advance, I’m now fantasizing about a plot for a romance novel where a sexy Navy SEAL shows up at the front door as the new neighbor, bringing all the side dishes I forgot to plan.

I think the story has potential.

What do you think?

Are you a planner?

Any recommendations for side dishes for Thanksgiving? (In case the SEAL is a no-show?)

And how about a FREE book for after the big dinner, to read while the guys are watching the game? I happen to have one of those around: Click here for details. Enjoy!

*Quote is from FLASH FIRE, my November 10^th release that can be purchased in eBook format for/from: